The ever-present rumors that Apple will move from Corning's Gorilla Glass to a new screen covering based on sapphire in its next-generation iPhone are said to have caused South Korean competitors Samsung and LG to look at the material more closely, according to a Friday report.

Samsung lost an appeal in the Netherlands over its infringement of Apple's bounce-back patent, resulting in a broad injunction against selling accused devices and all other infringing devices that Samsung has introduced or will introduce.

While Apple and Samsung are said to once again be in talks to settle their ongoing patent disputes, Apple has said that comments from Samsung's lawyers portraying the iPhone maker as "jihadist" suggest that such talks might just be a waste of time.

Speaking to analysts and investors, a senior vice president of Samsung stated "we, as a market leader, are following the market trend" in adding biosensors to mobile devices, while sidestepping the company's delay in 64-bits and the moribund 2 percent adoption of Knox by enterprise users.

Following Apple's most recent legal victory in California, and the news that both it and Google have agreed to end litigation with each other, Apple is said to have renewed settlement talks with Samsung, in an effort to end all ongoing lawsuits between the two rivals.

Apple made legal progress in its battle with Samsung over patents in Japan this week when the Tokyo District Court ruled that Samsung had indeed illegally abused its Standards Essential Patents to demand a sales ban and excessive royalties against the iPhone maker.

South Korean electronics giant Samsung on Wednesday issued a formal apology to workers who fell ill from cancer after exposure to toxic chemicals at the company's semiconductor plants, saying that it should have acted more swiftly and would compensate the victims.

Despite being fierce competitors and opponents in the courtroom, Apple and Samsung remain important partners, with Samsung reportedly supplying more than half of all high-resolution Retina displays for Apple's full-size iPad last quarter.

Apple remained by far the most profitable mobile phone maker in the just-concluded March quarter with 65 percent of value, while all other competitors except Samsung either lost money or broke even, the latest research shows.

The official blog of Samsung Electronics has revealed the design inspiration for its latest Galaxy S5 phone, which says involved extensive research into "appealing to consumers in their twenties and thirties," a demographic currently showing a preference for Apple's iPhone.

Apple is widely expected to introduce new, larger iPhone 6 models this year, after ignoring the "phablet" market for years. Somewhat ironically, it was Apple that initiated and perpetuated the trend toward larger smartphones phones while its competitors, including Samsung, worked to popularize small devices in order to "exploit" consumer preferences for phones that weren't as "monstrously large" as the iPhone, as revealed in confidential documents from the patent infringement trial.

South Korean electronics giant Samsung will reportedly challenge the $120 million in damages awarded to Apple as part of the companies' most recent courtroom battle, with Samsung's lead attorney saying the verdict was "unsupported by evidence."

After being recalled to clarify an issue with Friday's verdict, the Apple v. Samsung jury on Monday modified the award amounts for various claims, but left Apple's share of damages unchanged at $119.6 million.